Ava's Man by Rick Bragg
posted by Holli at 09:34 PM - Category: General

If you’re from northeast Alabama and you read Bragg’s book, you may feel like you’re reading about your own ancestry. At times, you may cringe at the actions of some of these ancestors, but deep down, you know they’re good people and you’re proud to call them family. I felt this way reading Ava’s Man, and it’s not just because Bragg’s grandmother, Ava, went to my hometown school. It’s because Bragg captures the essence of being a from-the-country, homegrown Alabamian. Just listen to Bragg’s description of his family’s meals:

“They lived mostly on beans and bread...On every stove, a pot of pintos simmered, a ham hock or a thick piece of fatback swimming in thick brown soup. In every stove, a golden cake of cornbread baked in an iron skillet…The women would put a pone of bread on a dinner plate and cover the top with another dinner plate, because that’s how it was done and always will be...And sometimes, for a change, people just crumbled up a little cornbread in a glass or a bowl and poured cold buttermilk or sweet milk over it, and ate it with a spoon. They chopped hot Spanish onions up in it, and that was a meal.” (49)

I’m not sure if everyone from northeast Alabama ate this way, but I know my family did and still does from time to time. While some of what Bragg writes may seem unbelievable, it’s passages like the one above that reek of authenticity to me. I love it.

Plus, he’s funny. I laughed out loud multiple times. One story that was particularly funny was about a guy who was seriously injured in a fight. Some of the men in Bragg’s family had a way of finding themselves in violent situations. One night, a man named Jeff was stabbed multiple times in a fight on Newt Morrison’s farm. By the time the bleeding stopped, the onlookers believed that nothing could be done to save Jeff because he’d lost so much blood. When asked if he needed to be taken to a doctor, even Jeff said, “No, I reckon I’ll just lay here and die.” Jeff “waited to die for a long, long time. Finally, after a few days, Newt told him that if he wasn’t going to die he sure did want his porch back, and Jeff got up and walked on down the road” (66). Unbelievable? Sure. Funny? Absolutely.

Bragg just has a way with words. I may be biased because I am Southern and I appreciate that he speaks my language. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed this book. I laughed, cried, and made people listen as I read certain passages to them. To me, that’s the mark of a good book.

John Steinbeck's East of Eden
posted by Holli at 09:45 PM - Category: General

This is a book I would consider a modern-day classic. It was easy-to-read and compelling. That's not an easy task for a writer tackling a novel of this scope. If you're unfamiliar with the novel, according to the preface East of Eden is "an ambitious saga of the Salinas Valley (California) and [Steinbeck's] own family's history." It sounds like you'd be bored to tears, but you'd be wrong. I'm not sure how much is fabricated, but these characters led some mighty interesting lives. Plus, Steinbeck's prose is not hard to understand at all, but he's still a very powerful writer. The man could tell a story.

What I loved most are the meditations on life Steinbeck weaves throughout the novel. For example, before introducing the reader to a certain character, he discusses "monsters born in the world to human parents." He explains, "Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies." Then he asks, "And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a twisted gene or a malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul?" Such an observation seems so obvious, but not everyone can put it into words quite like that. That is what makes a novel great in my opinion. Any book that makes me nod my head in agreement, shake my head in wonder, cringe, laugh, cry, etc. is a great book.

Has anyone else read this? Any thoughts?

Next I'll be reading Ava's Man by Rick Bragg. I read All Over But the Shoutin' several years ago, and I really enjoyed it. We'll see how Ava's Man turns out.

David Gemmell dies at 57
posted by Chrispian at 07:19 PM - Category: Authors

Fantasy novelist David Gemmell, best known for stories such as Legend and Waylander, has died at the age of 57.

Gemmell had heart bypass surgery two weeks ago and appeared to be making a good recovery, according to his publisher Transworld.

His career began in 1984 with Legend, a tale of a fortress under siege. He wrote 30 novels in total.

Transworld managing director Larry Finlay said Gemmell was "writing at the peak of his powers".

It's always sad to hear that someone has passed away. It always feels especially tragic when a writer or other artist passes because they contribute so much to our lives. I haven't had the chance to pick up any of David's books yet, but they've been on my list a while now. He has had a prolific career and I'll have plenty of material to get to know him through. In print, at least, he's attained the kind of immortality most writers dream of.

Source BBC

Meet The Authors
posted by Chrispian at 11:56 AM - Category: Authors

I don't get to meet very many "famous" authors and I imagine that's probably true of most of us. But you can sort of do it by proxy with this cool little web site called "Meet The Author (USA) or Meet The Author (UK). It's a great idea and is now on my list of sites to check out regularly.

via Grump Old Bookman

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
posted by Holli at 11:03 AM - Category: General

I don't get it. I know that as an English teacher I should get it, but I don't. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Nobel Prize winner, for goodness' sake! Why can't I get into and love his novels?? Is it just me?

In college, I read his short novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, for a class. It was strange, but accessible. I could follow the events, and it kept my attention. It helped that I had a professor who introduced Marquez's "magical realism." That's basically where anything can happen regardless of the contraints of time and space. If a man flies into the sun and returns in time for supper, then you just have to believe it. I think it also helped that it was a short book. It seems I can only stick with Marquez for a short time before becoming completely frustrated.

Next, I tried with One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'd always heard of this work. Then, Oprah picked it for her book club, so I thought, "I have to read this book. It must be important to the literary world. I must be informed." The book's back cover declares that it is "probably [his] finest and most famous work" and is "a masterpiece of the art of fiction." So, I began with the hopes of experiencing to the fullest extent this masterpiece. I tried to understand it. I really tried to love it like I've been told I should. But I couldn't make it through the first third of the book! I just didn't get it.

I felt like a failure. I kept thinking, "This is a masterpiece of modern fiction, so why couldn't I love it? Is something wrong with me?" So, to make myself feel better, I tried another Marquez novel, Love in the Time of Cholera. I was intrigued by this book not only because it was by the Nobel Prize-winning Marquez, but also because this book is mentioned in a couple of John Cusack movies, High Fidelity and Serendipity. I like John Cusack, and I saw some connection between his movies and this book, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I must say, it is a MUCH easier read than One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I still don't get all the hype. This book at least deals with a love story. I can always handle a good love story. But it's a very frustrating love story. With Marquez, things just suddenly happen with absolutely no warning and no explanation. We're just meant to take things as they come. The "suspension of disbelief" comes into full force when reading Marquez. You just have to go with the flow. I haven't quite finished Love in the Time of Cholera yet, but I just had to know: Am I the only one who doesn't understand Marquez? Is there something I'm missing?

Laurell K Hamilton Book Signing In San Francisco
posted by Chrispian at 02:27 PM - Category: Book Signings

Laurell will be signing books tonight in San Francisco:

We'll be signing tonight at the Borders in Union Square here. We'll see everyone at 7:00 tonight. Be well, and hope you guys get a relaxing day, too. This is the most relaxing day we've had on tour. We're going to try and enjoy it. -LKH Blog

Lucky punks! If anyone goes and can send pictures, drop me an email (chris@lit.org).

(Crossposted to Anita Blake Fan)

BAFAB Week Time!
posted by Chrispian at 09:22 PM - Category: Book Events

Buy A Friend a Book Week is upon us again and this time Debra is promoting the event with contests spread around several author/book sites. It's a wonderful way to get the word out for a very cool event. For more information about the project read my recent interview with Debra.

The contests are very cool games you can play at various web sites and there are some great prizes to be had. So play the game and remember to BAFAB!

Here is the scedule for the contests:

July 1 -- Puzzle #1 introduced at Grumpy Old Bookman
July 2 -- Puzzle #2 introduced at Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
July 3 -- Puzzle #3 introduced at This Writing Life
July 4 -- Puzzle #4 introduced at Books, Inq.
July 5 -- Puzzle #5 introduced at Refrigerator Door
July 6 -- Puzzle #6 introduced at No Rules. Just Write
July 7 -- Final question posed at Buy a Friend a Book

(schedule via Grumpy Old Bookman)

Go play and have fun!

Da Vinci in new plagiarism claim
posted by Chrispian at 08:38 PM - Category: Book News

A Russian art historian has accused The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown of plagiarism, just days after a British court rejected a similar claim.

Mikhail Anikin, from St Petersburg, said he would sue Brown if he did not receive an apology and compensation.

He claims Brown stole his idea that Leonardo Da Vinci was also a theologian and his Mona Lisa portrait was an allegory for the Christian Church.

Dan Brown can't catch a break lately. I wonder if people suing him will end up as a "world tour" for Dan. This suit seems like it has as much merit as the last. This is what happens when your book is that successful. Everybody wants a piece. Maybe I should fail a suit claiming I came up with the idea too. Mabye through in a little "he made my coffee too hot" or some other baseless claim hoping he'll just throw a pile of cash on me to make me "go away".

Source: Da Vinci in new plagiarism claim.

New ISBN Numbers in January 1, 2007
posted by Chrispian at 08:33 PM - Category: Book Biz

The ISBN number on the back of all books is getting ready for a change: the new ISBN numbers will be 13 digits long, instead of 11 digits long. Most publishers are getting ready for the change by issuing both an ISBN-11 and an ISBN-13 for books this year. The change will take effect on January 1, 2007.

But why is this happening, you may ask. Well, apparently we're running out of ISBN numbers and the powers that be want all books around the world to have a common identifier.

This isn't really "big news" for the book business, exactly. Having only 11 characters for the ISBN has obvious limits, as does the new 13 character ISBN. My question is, why not just go to 15, or 16 now? Why wait? Pad some zeroes in there now and keep from having to do this again anytime soon.

Writer's Blog: New ISBN Numbers Are Coming

Help Brave Men Run
posted by Chrispian at 08:51 AM - Category: Authors

As you may know, I'm a huge fan of Matthew Wayne Selznick, especially of his writing. He writes the stories that I want to read and If you haven't read his book yet, you really should! Brave Men Run is his debut novel and it's fantastic and deserves to be recognized. So I'm asking for a favor: lets help Matt win some awards and get more exposure!

Matt self published his novel, Brave Men Run, and as such is eligible for the "14th Annual Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards". If (I'd say when!) he wins he could get some much needed exposure and some prize money that could go a long way into further promoting the book and attending conventions. The entry fee isn't cheap, it's $100! Most publishing houses cover expenses like this, but since Matt is self published the burden falls on him and I've offered to help out by asking everyone to pitch in. I've already donated $25 for this event and I hope some of you will drop some money in the tip bucket too. I know we can make the $100 needed to get Matt's book into the running.

But don't stop there - Matt could still use our help beyond this first contest. There are several up coming contests and conventions that would really help Matt out. So lets get behind a writer who's spent a lot of time helping other writers! Donate today and donate often.

Click Here to see Matt's page about upcoming contests and events, and most importantly to donate! I hope you match my $25 starter donation. I'll be donating again on payday!

Dan Brown Wins Lawsuit
posted by Chrispian at 08:15 AM - Category: Book News

£350,000 in attorneys fees and no right to appeal: boy that's a harsh ruling against the plaintiffs. But the case had no merit at all, as we've said all along. We just hope that Dan Brown can put all this behind him and that he gets back to work on The Solomon Key.

I never had a doubt. I haven't read "The Da Vinci Code" yet, now that it's finally in paperback I probably will, but I knew the ideas weren't original. So did Dan Brown. He and his wife researched the facts and theories that become his blockbuster story. These two world class jokers who tried to sue Mr. Brown did the same thing when they wrote their story. My favorite part was when the judge said they had done exactly what they were accusing Dan Brown of. I'm not a fan of Dan Brown, I hardly know anything about him, but this case sounded like someone trying to pinch a brick off his stack of money and I just can't get behind that kind of behavior. So congrats to Dan for winning this pathetic excuse for a lawsuit.

Book Blog: Dan Brown Wins Lawsuit

Interview: Debra Hamel, Founder of Buy A Friend A Book Week
posted by Chrispian at 11:25 PM - Category: Interviews

This week is Buy A Friend A Book Week, a very cool book event that encourages people to buy a friend a book for no other reason than to just do it. As a book lover myself (I spend way too much time and money at B&N, BAM and Amazon.com) I was instantly drawn into BAFAB Week! This is my second time doing it and this time around I wanted to be more involved and by chance I happen to land a quick interview with BAFAB Week found Debra Hamel.

Q. First, tell us a little bit about yourself, an introduction if you will.

It's interesting how different periods of your life will find you in very different circumstances. Ten years ago I would have explained that I was finishing up graduate school (in classics) and would have identified myself primarily as an ancient historian in the making. But since typing the last of my dissertation (subsequently published: Athenian Generals) my life has changed considerably. I'm now the mother of two little girls (currently 10 and 4 years old), a blogger, and a self-proclaimed book reviewer. In 2003 I published my second book, Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece, but I wrote that back when I was only the mother of one. I haven't undertaken any major projects since because, or so I keep telling myself, it's too difficult amidst the chaos to order my thoughts. Instead I've busied myself with more manageable but still creative tasks--primarily creating and maintaining my various web sites and writing book reviews.

Q. Obviously books play a huge part in your life. When did you get started reading and who are some of your biggest influences? Who and how did you get interested in reading?

I can't remember a time when I wasn't interested in reading, actually. But things definitely took off for me, reading-wise, once I finished school, in that I had more time for and felt less guilty about pleasure reading. I started keeping a list of books read in 1997--something I'd hesitated about doing previously because I wondered if quantifying the reading experience was somehow silly or belittling.

Simply listing the books gave way to listing them and rating them with a rudimentary star system. Finally, in 2003 I took the plunge that has really defined my life to a large extent since, and certainly eaten up a good deal of my time. At the time, in 2003 and earlier, I was undecided about how to respond to books. That is, I was reading a lot, jotting down what I'd read, and forgetting most of what I'd read within months. I didn't like that so much of the experience was lost, yet I didn't want to, say, just write down my thoughts about a book for my own personal satisfaction--as a more-noble-than-I friend was doing--because, well, because it didn't have the thrill of an audience, I guess. At the same time I was beginning to hear a little about blogging. The idea appealed to me, though I didn't know what I could possibly say in a blog, and finally I put these two threads together and created book-blog.com, my book review site. I've posted over 200 reviews at the site since, all of them written by me.

As for my biggest influences, that's hard. Maybe not answerable. Certainly there are a great many authors I admire for various reasons. It was probably because I thought Richard Russo's Straight Man was so very good, for example, that I actually sat down to write my first review for book-blog.com. But I truthfully don't know how much I've been influenced by authors.

Q. Have you met any authors if so, who? If not, who would you love to meet?

Not in meatspace, as they say, but in reviewing and being part of the literary blogosphere I've met a number of authors virtually (including Alan Alda, who was, in his note to me in response to my review of his autobiography, as gracious and pleasant as you might expect). To tell you the truth, it hasn't occurred to me to want to meet authors in real life. The internet was made for the likes of me, someone who's perfectly happy when largely withdrawn from the hubbub of social intercourse.

Q. Tell us about this extremely cool project you've got going, the Buy a Friend a Book Week Project. On your site you said you "mapped out the basic idea for the site while lying awake one night after an emergency diaper change". I know we've all had those kinds of idea moments. How did this all come together? Was it as simple as having the idea and then getting a page up? What kind of challenges did you face?

Unfortunately those idea moments in my life don't come around very often. On the other hand, I tend to act on them when they do with a sort of monomaniacal fervor, worried that if I don't act quickly enough I'll lose interest. The genesis of BAFAB was pretty much as you describe it. (Here's a fuller account of the diaper story.) I went to bed having come up with the idea, then I mapped it out more fully in the middle of the night and started making the web site for BAFAB the next day. It was pretty hurried because this happened in mid- to late-June of 2005, and as I'd planned it I wanted July 1-7 to be a BAFAB week. So I wanted the thing ready to go by July 1st, and it was. I asked Damian McNicholl, the author of A Son Called Gabriel, to be the first guest reviewer, and he responded speedily enough for me to get the page up and running in time.

Apart from the usual concerns with the tweaking of html, the challenge I faced and continue to face with BAFAB is one of promotion. Basically, I started a grass-roots campaign to spread the word about what I think is a good idea, simply because it's a good idea. What I need is for people to tell their friends about it. This is happening in the blogosphere, but it needs to spread also to the real world. The idea needs to reach a tipping point so that my being run over by a bus won't be detrimental to its survival. I'm not sure whether that's happened yet.

Spreading the word about BAFAB is made difficult because it's a quarterly event. My success in spreading the word this time around doesn't necessarily mean that people will remember to celebrate BAFAB again in three months' time unless they're reminded.

Q. How long has BAFAB been going on? Has the project been a success so far? What is your proudest moment as the founder of BAFAB Week?

July of 2005 was the first week of BAFAB. I'd say the project is successful because it's been well received both by authors--many of whom have come forward asking to take part in the site as guest reviewers--and by literary bloggers. I've been feeling pretty proud this time around especially because it seems to me--this isn't particularly scientific, but it's my sense of things, from technorati search results and my stats--that the idea is spreading much farther afield than it has in the past. I keep running into references to BAFAB on blogs that I've never heard of before. In other words, initially the project was just discussed by myself and by people I contacted and asked to spread the word. We're on to a second or third or fourth generation now of people mentioning BAFAB on their sites because they encountered the idea somewhere, but not from me. I also like the fact that people refer to Buy a Friend a Book Week as if it's a done deal, like it's more than an idea I conjured up in my bedroom in the middle of the night. It's taken on a life of its own.

Q. For someone who wants to Buy a Friend A Book, other than rushing out to get the book, are there any tips for someone new to the project?

It's a pretty simple idea, requiring only that you buy someone a book. I've heard of some variations on the theme, the occasional contest being offered in conjunction with BAFAB by lit bloggers (book giveaways), and one woman planned to give books to all the members of her reading group. I would ask only that when you give a book for BAFAB you let the person know about the holiday, either by word of mouth or by printing out an explanation from the web site and sticking it in the book. I also had BAFAB cards made up at Zazzle for anyone interested in going whole hog. They turned out nicely.

Q. Personally, I'm always partial to buying books for my nieces and nephews. Getting children hooked on books young, like I was, has been a real joy for me. Creating readers for the next generation is very important to me. I've used BAFAB to try and help some of my adult friends rekindle their interest in books, but I find getting adults to read is a far bigger challenge. What are your thoughts on introducing more people to books and reading, or do you concentrate on sharing great books with people you know already love reading?

So far I've only done the latter, getting books to regular readers. I don't know how one might go about rekindling an interest in reading.... Certainly, some people--my own husband included--simply aren't readers, and nothing's going to get them to read a book for pleasure. This isn't a terrible thing, just a matter of taste, provided that they're not excluded from the reading world by virtue of illiteracy or inadequate access to reading materials. Perhaps, in such a case, instead of Buying a Friend a Book you might cheat and get them a subscription to a magazine (BAFAM?) that's particularly matched to their interests.

Q. How can people get involved and help?

Spread the word! If you know anyone who runs a brick-and-mortar bookstore, try to get them interested in the idea. To me it seems a natural that bookstores would want to spread the word about a holiday that celebrates the gifting of books.

Q. What's next for BAFAB Week?

I've got guest reviewers for BAFAB lined up into 2007. Next up, for the July 2006 BAFAB Week, the guest reviewer will be Chris Steib, the editor of Void Magazine. In October of 2005 I held a contest at buyafriendabook.com, a book giveaway, and I should get my act together and host another one of those soon.

Drop Everything And Read April 12th
posted by Chrispian at 10:23 AM - Category: Book Events

April 12th is "Drop Everything and Read" day. Another great book event. The main goal is to get families to get together to share in reading & books. It seems specifically aimed at kids. So if you don't have kids of your own, go grab your niece or nephew or the neighbors kid and read to them. If you can't find a kid then just pick up a book and read! I doubt visitors of Readers Unbound actually need an excuse to read though. I know I don't :)

Check ou the Drop Everything And Read Web site for details.

Buy a Friend a Book Week is Coming Apirl 1!
posted by Chrispian at 10:19 AM - Category: Book Events


Buy a Friend a Book! week happens twice a year four times a year, the first weeks of January, April, July, and October, and is an effort to introduce people to great books and get more people reading. It's a great project and this will be the second time I buy a book for someone for no good reason. Okay, it's a good reason, but no "paticular" reason... you know what I mean. I hope you take part in giving someone a great book to read!

* Thanks to Debra for the correction!

Featured Book: Orphanage (Paperback) by Robert Buettner - Science Fiction
posted by Chrispian at 11:00 PM - Category: Featured Book

From the publsher's website: "In the triumphant tradition of The Forever War and War Against the Chtorr...

When earth needs heroes, whom will we call to valor? When flares streaking across the sky herald massive destruction, who will defend us? When mankind's enemy is beyond our worst imagination, who will be our champions? Will we pick the brightest and the toughest? Or the ones with nothing left to lose?

WAR IS AN ORPHANAGE

Mankind's first alien contact tears into Earth: projectiles launched from Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, vaporize whole cities. Under siege, humanity gambles on one desperate counterstrike. In a spacecraft scavenged from scraps and armed with Vietnam-era weapons, foot soldiers like eighteen-year-old Jason Wander—orphans that no one will miss—must dare man's first interplanetary voyage and invade Ganymede. They have one chance to attack, one ship to attack with. Their failure is our extinction."

Reviews:

—New York Times Bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson, coauthor of Dune : The Machine Crusade
"ORPHANAGE is raw and real -- and a hell of a good read."

Joe Haldeman, author of The Forever War
I'm sure Robert Heinlein would have enjoyed this exciting homage to Starship Troopers. . .believable as it is terrible."

As I was reading the novel, two comparisons, fairly or not, sprung to my mind – Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket. A good portion of this novel deals with Jason’s training, and his development into a mature man, so with both of those comparisons, Buettner measures up fairly well... Read the review.

Robert Buettner's Orphanage delivers a riveting tale of warfare in this futuristic tale. Though set in 2040, Orphanage is a story that today's readers can relate to on multiple accounts... Read the review.

Orphanage is written in first person, allowing the reader a peek into Jason Wander's soul. Author Robert Buettner's style is so rich with authentic emotion that we are easily able to identify and empathize with his protagonist, as well as with his other well-defined characters... Read the review.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's still imitation. Orphanage is Robert Buettner's debut, and it's been getting enthusiastic praise in many quarters. Yet — alas — I must join the dissenting voices. Many military SF novels have paid homage to Starship Troopers over the decades, just as many fantasies have tipped their hats to Professor Tolkien... Read the review.

Buy Orphanage from Amazon.com for $6.99.